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Super Apostles from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

The Apostle Paul made three long mission trips preaching the Gospel from city to city (click on map to enlarge). His home base was Antioch, and he traveled to Berea and back. It was rough work. Paul was beaten repeatedly, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked, and under constant threat, but he was a man on a mission. 

The Apostle Paul would come into a town and preach the Gospel, and it was like kicking a fire-ant bed. Soon people would be cursing him, tearing their clothes, throwing dust in the air, and picking up sharp rocks to stone him with. At Lystra, Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city, and left for dead. 

Sadly, it was the religious people who were trying to kill him. The unbelievers didn't care either way. Their behavior completely baffled the Romans. The Roman governor Festus heard the case the Jews brought against Paul and described it like this:

(Acts 25:18–19 NKJV)  When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I supposed, but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

In each town, Paul planted the seed of the Gospel through blood, sweat, and tears. Small house churches began springing up with faithful believers in places like Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Galatia, and Corinth. Of the twenty-seven New Testament books, thirteen are letters Paul wrote to these young churches. 

When the Apostle Paul left a town, the enemy sent his missionaries to poison it, sowing tares among the wheat. It happened so often that many of Paul's letters are written to correct some false teaching that crept in after he was there. 

There is a pattern in each where the enemy's apostles came through, posing as "Super Apostles." Where Paul was humble and paid his own way, those who came behind him were authoritarian and fleeced the sheep. They were the false prophets, the ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing that Jesus warned about (Matthew 7:15). 

These wolves always taught that Paul's gospel lacked something and needed to be corrected somehow. A prime example is that after Paul left Galatia, some men came and taught the Christians there that they needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul wrote several chapters to correct it:

(Galatians 3:1–3 NKJV)  O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

(Galatians 5:7–12 ESV)  You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

Please be careful of exalting yourself as something great. It is a path to deception and the dark side. All through Scripture, there are warnings about pride:

(1 Peter 5:5–6 NKJV)  ..., and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.

(Proverbs 16:18 NKJV)  Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.

(Matthew 23:11–12 NKJV)  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Pride will blind you, and the Lord will let it happen if you choose that path. The Apostle Paul wrote this to the Corinthians:

(2 Corinthians 4:3–4 NKJV)  But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

The word "blinded" here is "typhloō," which means "to dull the intellect; to make blind." It comes from the root word "typhomai," which means to make smoke. The blindness in this verse is like a smoke screen that clouds the air where you can't see clearly. Another word that stems from it is "typhoomai," which means "high-minded, puffed up, proud, and inflated." Pride and spiritual blindness go hand in hand.

5604 τυφλόω (typhloō): vb.; ≡ Str 5186; TDNT 8.270—1. LN 32.43 make to not understand (2Co 4:4+); cause to not understand, formally, cause blindness, deprive of sight (Jn 12:40; 1Jn 2:11+).

5605 τυφόομαι (typhoomai): vb.; ≡ Str 5187—1. LN 88.218 be extremely proud, be conceited (1Ti 3:6; 6:4; 2Ti 3:4+); be foolish, stupid (1Ti 6:4+).

5606 τύφω (typhō), τύφομαι (typhomai): vb.; ≡ Str 5188—LN 14.64 smolder, smoke (Mt 12:20+).

(James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament)).

Who's the greatest? That question came up a lot among the disciples. 

(Mark 9:33–35 NKJV)  Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."

(Matthew 18:1–4 NKJV)  At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I cringe when I see "Apostle so and so" sign up at Refreshing Hope. It means, "Here comes trouble and division." 

(1 Corinthians 8:1–2 NKJV)  ... Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

If you submit to God, the devil will flee from you, and God will begin to deflate your ego. He has done it for me more than once. He is a pro at letting the air out of a man. The pride of man has no place in His kingdom, and He will not use you until you let it go. You can hang onto it if you like, but it will not end well. It's a bit like this story:

The captain of a ship on a dark night saw faint lights in the distance. He told his signalman to send the message: "Change your course 10 degrees south."

Immediately he received the response: "Change your direction 10 degrees north."

The proud captain was angry that he was being challenged, so he sent a further message: "Change your course 10 degrees south. This is the captain speaking!"

He received the response: "Change your direction 10 degrees north. I'm Seaman Third Class Jones."

The captain, thinking he would terrify this insubordinate sailor, wired a third message: "Change your direction 10 degrees south. I am a battleship."

The final reply came: "Change your course 10 degrees north. I am a lighthouse."

(Larson's illustration's for preaching pg. 134).

I'm big and important, and you better listen to me! Pfft. God is not impressed, and when we are dead, the world will continue while He uses the next generation. The Apostle Paul learned this well. He had so much knowledge and had been given many revelations, so the Lord helped him balance it:

(2 Corinthians 12:7–9 NKJV)  And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 

This was what the Apostle Paul's daily life looked like. He described it in 2 Corinthians: 

(2 Corinthians 11:23–28 NKJV)  ... in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

(2 Corinthians 12:11 ESV)  ... For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

On the night of the Last Supper, the servant was missing. So Jesus rose and washed the disciple's feet. Then He told them to do likewise (John 13:14). Submit yourselves to God. Let Him deflate your ego. There is no room in His kingdom for Super Apostles. 

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please clear my vision and reveal the truth to me. Help me balance my life, and show me the areas I need to work on. Teach me what I need to know. Help me get in tune with what You are doing on the Earth today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!